Commerce innovates to recruit systems workers
If they can't use pay raises to retain information technology workers, federal information managers must find other ways to keep their IT staff members, said Alan Balutis, Commerce Department's deputy chief information officer. Balutis outlined his efforts for retaining IT workers during the Coalition for Government Procurement's spring conference last month.
High-end notebooks offer a smorgasbord of features
Here's a checklist of the features you should look for in a high-end notebook. CPU. For true power notebook computing, the 266-MHz Mobile Pentium II is the way to go. But the Pentium II's full punch isn't needed for typical word processing, spreadsheet, database and multimedia applications. Chip sets. For a notebook with a 266-MHz Pentium MMX CPU, the Intel 430TX (or a similar design from another manufacturer) is fine. If you move up to a 266-MHz
Potential WITS bidders get extra comment time
The General Services Administration has extended the comment period on the draft request for proposals for the Washington Interagency Telecommunications Systems 2001 contract. GSA officials said they plan to issue the final RFP late this month. Wayne Brady, planning director for GSA's National Capital Region, said the agency still plans to award the contract in December. The current WITS contract, awarded in 1989 to C&P Telephone Co., now Bell Atlantic Corp., expires in January.
INS moves into Phase 2 of its modernization effort
To help it meet the requirements of new crime and immigration legislation, the Immigration and Naturalization Service will integrate some of its existing systems and add new modules. To do this work for the second phase of the Service Technology Alliance Resource (STAR) program, INS late last month awarded contracts jointly worth $750 million to Computer Sciences Corp., Electronic Data Systems Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp.
DOD COMPUTING
Mission gone awry. The B-2 bomber's mission planning system is so slow, it is hurting the Air Force's ability to strike targets quickly, the General Accounting Office said last month. The GAO report, B-2 Bomber: Additional Costs to Correct Deficiencies and Make Improvements, said the Air Force Mission Support System malfunctioned frequently, was inflexible, too complex and time-consuming for quick targeting. Lockheed Martin Corp. is developing AFMSS to support all Air Force combat aircraft.
Graphics monitors put on masks for crisper color
Setting their sights on producing brighter and clearer images, a few manufacturers have introduced unique mask technologies that combine characteristics of conventional CRT technologies, such as Invar shadow mask and flat square, with aperture grille technologies. To get the richest, most saturated color for use in high-end computer-aided design, manufacturing and engineering, graphics and desktop publishing applications, monitor makers recommend aperture grille technologies such as Sony's Trinitron and Mitsubishi's DiamondTron tubes.
Army makes new BPAs for leasing PCs open to all government buyers
A Pentium II system will lease for $104 per month under a one-year lease agreement. Late last month, the Army negotiated three blanket purchasing agreements for leasing computers. All federal agencies can use Army Leasing 1. Government Technology Services Inc. of Chantilly, Va., Telos Corp. of Ashburn, Va., and Vanstar Government Services Inc. of Fairfax, Va., will lease agencies products from General Services Administration Information Technology Schedule contracts.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Few columns have generated as much mail as John McCormick's Power User on Page 43 of the June 15 issue. McCormick lamented the new release of an old favorite, WordPerfect from Corel Corp. Here is a sampling of the responses: I, too, prefer an earlier version of WordPerfect. I like 6.0a, a Windows version that still does all the things I need. I'm put out because I cannot buy just an upgrade to WordPerfect without having
Education replaces 386 and 486 PCs as part of year 2000 effort
Education Department officials plan to have their PC LANs ready for 2000 more than a year ahead of time. The department is joining the Air Force and Navy in standardizing on Microsoft Exchange Server. The Microsoft Outlook 97 mail client will take the place of Lotus cc:Mail as the department replaces nearly a third of its 6,000 networked PCs.
Compaq and Digital will launch a federal subsidiary
Compaq Computer Corp. and its new acquisition, Digital Equipment Corp., will unveil a federal subsidiary by Oct. 1, company officials said. During the next six months, Digital will begin replacing its PCs and servers on federal contracts with Compaq products, following the normal product modification process, said Jim White, vice president and general manager of Digital's federal operations.
Defense and Treasury run e-check pilot
The Treasury and Defense departments have launched a one-year, $1 million-a-day pilot to test a new medium of financial exchange: the electronic check. On June 30, Treasury's Financial Management Service cut its first electronic check, for $32,153, to GTE Internetworking of Cambridge, Mass. The check was electronically delivered, endorsed and deposited within minutes in the company's BankBoston and NationsBank accounts.
Software glitches leave Navy Smart Ship dead in the water
The Navy's Smart Ship technology may not be as smart as the service contends. Although PCs have reduced workloads for sailors aboard the Aegis missile cruiser USS Yorktown, software glitches resulted in system failures and crippled ship operations, according to Navy officials. Navy brass have called the Yorktown Smart Ship pilot a success in reducing manpower, maintenance and costs. The Navy began running shipboard applications under Microsoft Windows NT so that fewer sailors would be needed to
Twelve HHS systems professionals win recognition
The Health and Human Services Department and GCN have honored 12 HHS employees for excellence in systems development, management and implementation. The HHS employees received their awards at a recent GCN Forum luncheon in Washington.
ENTERPRISE COMPUTING | Beat the Clock
| Beat the Clock A unique event. Industry executives and federal officials are worried about survival of the telecommunications infrastructure as devices tick over to Jan. 1, 2000. An AT&T Corp. executive testified at a recent House subcommittee meeting that averting network and service outages may be the most critical task the telecom giant has ever faced.
Carl's Cartoon
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Online or off, DropChute tells you when a file is waiting
To send a file via DropChute, you designate the recipient and the file to transfer, but—and this is the important part—you don't send to the recipient's e-mail address, and the recipient need not be online. If you are online and the recipient isn't, DropChute from Hilgraeve Inc. of Monroe, Mich., sends a note saying that a file is ready to send. The note pops up on the recipient's DropChute icon when the person goes online again.
First servers with Xeon chips wear Dell label
Dell Computer Corp. last week became the first enterprise server maker to ship systems based on the new Pentium II Xeon chip and 450NX chip set from Intel Corp. Chairman Michael Dell vowed to lower prices in the high-end server market through efficiencies that Dell's build-to-order business model has spread to other parts of the computer industry.
Armada 7800, Solo 5100XL serve well as weapons for road warriors | GCN BuyersGUIDE
The Armada 7800 from Compaq Computer Corp. is a good example of a high-end portable notebook that could also do double-duty service as a desktop device. The one I tried came with a 13.3-inch XGA active-matrix screen, 266-MHz Mobile Pentium II CPU, 64M of synchronous dynamic RAM, S3 Virge/MX graphics controller with 4M of RAM, built-in modem, removable 5G Smart hard drive and 20X CD-ROM drive.
SNAPSHOT
PARKER: I think HUD has a very strong appreciation of IT. For the most part, the end users and middle management understand it and understand its benefits. I'm not sure that the middle management and end-user community have totally come to grips with the benefits of technology as an enabler to do what we call "One HUD"—to be able to share information across the board. We have to utilize technology to do that. They're still
This $150 contact database maximizes your limited time
Box Score B+ Maximizer 5.0 Multiactive Software Inc., Vancouver, Wash.; tel: 800-804-6299 http://www.maximizer.com Price: $150 Pros and cons: + Good interrelation of contacts – Steep learning curve Real-life requirements: Win95 or NT running on a 75-MHz Pentium, 35M free on hard drive
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